Rich Hill’s resurgence comes with perfect timing
By Joey Farcone
After a frustrating first half of the season, Rich Hill’s resurgence has him putting up league-leading numbers in the month of July.
With Clayton Kershaw sidelined for the next month or so good news couldn’t come at a better time: Rich Hill is back. After struggling for the first half of the season with command issues and lingering blister issues, the 37 year-old southpaw has resurfaced as the dominant pitcher the Dodgers signed up for.
Hill has been outstanding in the month of July. In four games, he has pitched to a tune of a 3-0 record with a 1.42 ERA and 0.79 WHIP. He has a 37:3 K/BB ratio, .183 BAA, 13.1 K/9 and a 1.34 FIP.
Finding his command has led to the success that the front office was expecting when they resigned him last off-season. Hill is only giving free passes to 3% of hitters in July.
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That is down from 13.6% in the months leading up to July.
Getting ahead of hitters allows Hill to do two things: strikeout hitters at an alarming rate and pitch deeper into games.
With one of the highest spin rates in the league, Hill’s curveball has always been known to be a put away pitch. Getting ahead of hitters has allowed him to make use of his nastiest pitch to an outstanding 13.1 K/9 ratio.
Hill has also been going deeper into every game he starts. Up until June 21st, Hill hadn’t gone deeper than 5 IP. He has now gone 6 IP + in four of his last five starts, hitting the seven inning mark three times.
It would be nice to see this pattern continue while Kershaw is sidelined. Kershaw and Alex Wood have been the only starters to go deep into games this year, keeping the bullpen fresh.
Per Fangraphs, Hill leads all NL pitchers in FIP, he is second in xFIP, second in WAR, and fourth in ERA in the month of July. He has the widest gap between strikeouts and walks as well. He ranks second in K/9 and leads the NL in BB/9.
Hill is in line for potential NL Pitcher of the Month honors with arguably the best statistical month of his career.
Hill looks to finish July off strong this afternoon as he takes on the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles. First pitch is at 1:05 pm PST.